As a Research Officer, you will contribute to descriptive as well as normative discourse on wealth inequality by providing insights into the wealth of the super-rich. The main method for this is going to be the creation of case-studies on individual billionaires (especially from Germany, China and the Netherlands) that describe the respective billionaire’s sources of wealth accurately from an economic and sociological perspective, taking the historical development of family fortunes into account.

To that end, you will combine insights from journalistic rich lists, additional structured and unstructured sources (such as the Wikidata knowledge graph), insights from corporate information databases, and your own background research and data analysis. Based on a critical evaluation of these insights, you will provide short texts on individual billionaires that target audiences within and beyond academia.

Given on your skills and interest, contribution to an academic summary publication and/or presentation of insight in academic workshops is also possible. In your work, you will closely collaborate with Daniel Mayerhoffer, the project’s principal investigator, and also interact with practice stakeholders.

The successful candidate is based and is allowed to work in the Netherlands, demonstrates flexibility and proactivity, readily adapting to changing circumstances and proactively addressing challenges as they arise. We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate keen on interdisciplinary approaches and willing to critically evaluate and combine information from different sources.

In addition, you have:

• An undergraduate degree in Sociology, Economics or an adjacent discipline. Interdisciplinary studies are a clear plus;
• Proficiency (at least language level C1) in English, German and Standard Chinese as well as (inter-) cultural experiences in at least Germany and China;
• Basic knowledge of corporate structures, controlling and corporate law, especially in the above-mentioned countries;
• Skills in computational data analysis in Python, Julia, R or MS Power BI;
• Research experience, e.g. from student assistantships, and practical experience in extra academic (internship) appointments;
• Good communication skills at the intersection of academic and non-academic audiences.

We offer a temporary employment contract of 30,4 hours per week (0.8 fte) for nine months with a probationary period of two months, preferably starting on 1 October 2025.

A shorter contract period for more than 30,4 hours per week, or a longer contract period for less than 30,4 hours (at least 19 hours per week) is negotiable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at the University of Amsterdam we offer you multiple benefits:

• an enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues;
• the possibility to set up a workplace at home;
• an inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam;
• exposure to diverse research projects and collaborations;
• the UvA offers excellent possibilities for further professional development and education;
• inclusive and supportive work culture.